Gregg Wallace has said he contemplated suicide after being hit by allegations of multiple instances of inappropriate behaviour while presenting shows including the BBC’s Masterchef.
Last year, Wallace was accused of making “highly inappropriate” comments to 13 people across five shows over a 17-year period between 2005 to 2022, by figures including former Newsnight host Kirsty Wark and actor Katy Brand.
He was also accused of “bullying” or inappropriate behaviour by celebrities including Rod Stewart’s wife, former model Penny Lancaster, and TV presenter Vanessa Feltz.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the TV host said he had endured a “tidal wave of abuse” on social media after he posted a video on Instagram hitting out at the allegations, which he claimed came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”.
“I hadn’t slept for four days,” Wallace said, explaining why he posted the clip, which he later apologised for.
“The feeling of being under attack, of isolation, of abandonment was overwhelming. Nobody from the BBC contacted me once these stories started breaking – absolutely nobody at all.”
He continued: “News channels were updating hourly with new allegations. There was a tidal wave of abuse on social media, a dozen reporters outside the gate. You’re watching yourself get personally ripped apart, criticised, accused of all sorts of stuff over and over again. You’re thinking, ‘This isn’t true. It isn’t true. What’s coming next?”
He later said: “I thought about suicide all the time, ‘Is my insurance up to date? Will [my wife] Anna get some money? She doesn’t deserve this. It would be better if I wasn’t here.’”
He told the newspaper that Masterchef’s production company, Banijay, arranged for a crisis mentor to support him after he posted his video.
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Most of the allegations, which were made in a BBC News investigation, came from production workers, many of whom were young female freelancers.
After the allegations were published, others came forward to accuse Wallace, 60, of incidents involving “groping” and “touching”, all of which he has vehemently denied.
Wallace said he had been taken aback to hear complaints from women he thought he had “got on” with, including Wark, 70, who accused him of telling “sexualised jokes” during the filming of Celebrity Masterchef in 2011, and other high-profile media personalities such as Vanessa Feltz and Kirstie Allsopp.
He said Feltz’s complaint had “knocked him for six” and also rejected Allsopp’s comments about his alleged reference to a sex act: “I wouldn’t have said that.”
Wallace addressed claims by rock singer Rod Stewart’s wife, former model Penny Lancaster, who alleged that he bullied and harassed her when she appeared on Celebrity Masterchef in 2021.
According to Wallace, the “falling out”, which he said there was raw footage of, involved a disagreement over whether an orchid should stay on a bowl of soup.
“I want to take the orchid off because it’s not edible,” he said. “She wants it to stay on.”
The Independent has contacted Lancaster’s representative for comment.
Wallace admitted that some accusations of him making inappropriate jokes were “probably true” but denied groping anyone, calling those claims “absolutely not true”.
After stepping down from Masterchef, he was replaced by Grace Dent who joined his former co-host, John Torode.
He also revealed that he was recently diagnosed with autism: “I want to make it absolutely clear I’m not blaming my behaviour on my diagnosis, but it does explain a hell of a lot to me.”
Among the allegations were claims that Wallace would talk openly about his sex life and once told a junior female colleague he wasn’t wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans.
A former Masterchef worker told BBC News that he showed her topless photos of himself and asked for massages, while a former worker on Channel 5’s Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends claimed he was fascinated by the fact that she dated women and asked her about the “logistics” of it.
Model Ulrika Jonsson told The Telegraph after the first allegations were published that Wallace allegedly had to apologise after making a “rape joke” that caused serious distress to another female contestant while she was competing on Celebrity Masterchef in 2017.
Geordie Shore star Charlotte Crosby, who appeared on Celebrity Masterchef in 2024, commented on Rod Stewart’s post about his wife to allege Wallace was “extremely unpleasant” to her during filming.
Wallace’s lawyers said it was “entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
Findings from an investigation by Banijay into Wallace’s alleged behaviour are expected to be made public next month.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email [email protected], or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
